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Twitter Inc said on Wednesday that users will be required to delete new tweets that make misleading or harmful claims about COVID-19 vaccines, in an expansion of its rules on misinformation about the coronavirus.
The social media company said in a blog post that users could be asked to delete tweets with false claims suggesting that vaccines are “used to intentionally harm or control populations, including statements about vaccines that invoke a deliberate conspiracy. “.
The policy, announced the same week that the first Americans received the COVID-19 vaccine as part of a mass immunization campaign, will also apply to false claims that the pandemic is not real or serious and vaccines are unnecessary. Twitter said it will also apply to widely discredited false claims about the adverse effects of receiving COVID-19 vaccines.
Conspiracy theories and misinformation about the coronavirus and its possible vaccines have proliferated on social media platforms during the pandemic.
Twitter said early next year it would begin tagging or placing a warning in tweets with “unsubstantiated rumors, disputed claims, as well as incomplete or out of context information” about vaccines.
A Twitter spokeswoman said the company would determine with public health partners what misinformation about the vaccine was harmful enough to warrant removal.
Facebook Inc and YouTube, owned by Alphabet Inc, have announced in recent weeks bans on false claims about the vaccine that go against the information of public health experts.
Twitter previously required users to delete tweets with false or misleading information about the nature of the coronavirus, the efficacy or safety of preventive measures or treatments, official regulations, or the risk of infection or death. The company says it hides those tweets and blocks users from tweeting again until they delete them.
Twitter said it would apply the updated policy as of December 21 and expand these actions in the coming weeks.
/ MUF
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